His stature as one our finest novelists long assured, Stewart O'Nan branched into short-form fiction four years ago with a charming tour de force on the final throes of a casual dining franchise.

It speaks volumes about O'Nan's talent that "Last Night at the Lobster" managed to pack a full complement of unique characters into a mere 172 pages.

O'Nan's new novella, "The Odds," has almost the same number of pages, but its character list is much shorter. The story features Art and Marion Fowler, soon-to-be-divorced husband and wife.

We meet the Fowlers traveling by bus to Niagara Falls from their home in Cleveland. Bankrupt, their home in foreclosure, the Valentine's Day weekend trip to the tourist mecca where they'd honeymooned represents the Fowlers' last hurrah. By mutual agreement, the couple will separate upon their return.

Their story is told in a narrative that effortlessly moves from past to present and back again. O'Nan, bless him, even manages to squeeze in an unlikely cameo by Heart, the sister band that rocked the 1970s.

Their respective infidelities aside, Art and Marion seem unlikely candidates for marriage failure. They are playfully tolerant of one another's idiosyncrasies. And they clearly like each other. Up to a point.

—"'Here you go,' Marion says, handing a freshly ironed shirt to her husband. 'What are you going to do when I die?'"‰

"It was an old favorite," O'Nan writes. "From her tone Art knew she was kidding, but it was a routine he hated, not merely for its hidden threat and insinuation of helplessness. He could not say he would live. Sometimes, after too much wine, she would answer herself: 'I don't know why I bother worrying. You'll be fine. You'll go marry (Art's ex-lover) or some other chick who will take care of you.'"

The book's title is derived from the name of each chapter, a compendium of odds that hint at the subtext of the pages to follow: "Odds of being served breakfast in bed on Valentine's Day, 1 in 4"; "Odds of a married woman having an affair, 1 in 3"; "Odds of a couple taking a second honeymoon to the same destination, 1 in 9."

What initially seems a contrivance, the chapter titles, becomes increasingly agreeable as the artfully staged plot emerges.

The odds of the Fowlers reconciling should their marriage fail may be slim (1 in 20,480 that a divorced couple will remarry), but the odds that O'Nan will write winsome fiction — be it long or short-form — are forever high.

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Stewart O'Nan

When • 7 p.m. Jan. 25

Where • St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 South Lindbergh Boulevard

How much • Free

More info • 314-994-3300

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'The Odds'

A novel by Stewart O'Nan

Published by Viking, 179 pages,

$25.95

On sale Thursday